The story was sweet, and I appreciated that Gemma grew as a person throughout. It felt like it wrapped up in the end with a giant lovely bow.

5 stars -- self-publishing is hard.

Thanks to NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing, LLC, for the ARC.

This book has been a great listening experience. Thanks to the author and the publisher for bringing this book to life.

"Love is the best gift I've ever had the privilege to give."

Josh and Gemma surprised me in the best possible way. Despite its seemingly clichéd title, Josh and Jemma Makes a Baby, delves into a depth beyond the ordinary. I never expected it to navigate challenging themes like infertility and IVF. I cried! The author, Sarah Ready, crafted a compelling narrative, effectively conveying the message that "every infertility journey is different." Gemma, grappling with endometriosis, faces the reality that conceiving without IVF is unlikely. With failed relationships behind her, her New Year's resolution is to create her own family through IVF, turning to her brother's best friend, Josh—a renowned comics writer—as her sperm donor.

Beyond the IVF and infertility narrative, the book introduces a heartwarming portrayal of friendship and an infertility support group, offering a refreshing perspective on everyone's unique journey. Gemma's unwavering family support is remarkable. The antagonist, Ian Fortune, did his job well, I would say, as he made me hate him so much :D

Gemma, with her relatable persona, great sense of humor, and compassionate heart, and Josh, with his endearing character, made for a compelling duo. The banter among various characters provided much-needed laughter amid the heavier themes. The audiobook narration by Erin Mallon make this story even better ! She did an absolutely fantastic job and made me connect to the characters in a better way!

Ready to read the sequel now.

Gemma is looking to have a baby with her brother’s best friend Josh. She has fertility issues and this seems to be the only way to go about this. TW for those with fertility issues. IVF is involved. And this topic is close to my heart. This is nicely done and humor is done to help this along. These two are great together. This was the first book by this author and I would read another one.

I received this ARC through the publisher and I am voluntarily reviewing this book, opinions are my own.

One thing about me is I absolutely love books with pregnancy trope, I know it’s unpopular but I will forever search out and love all books that have it and this one is no exception. This was such a sweet romcom. Gemma is wanting to have a baby so she decides she is going to have one via Ivf using her brothers best friends sperm, already off to a crazy fun start and premise. She claims that he’s just the sperm donor but obviously feelings get involved.

Gemma is such a refreshing character, she’s funny and honest and sometimes even a bit of an asshole but it makes her feel so real. Josh is so sweet as well and their chemistry and banter is amazing.

The topic of infertility is handled with such grace and humility, injected with just the right amount of humor too.

Loved listening to this book!

This book was enjoyable! I was not immediately drawn to the characters, but I was interested in the plot, as it contained just enough "trope" to satisfy my itch for something that would be quick and fun. Over time, I grew to enjoy the main characters. One aspect I liked about this title in particular was that it didn't shy away from the "muckier" aspects of becoming a mother, including IVF and miscarriage.

Since this review is specific to the audio, I will note that I had to speed the narration up to 1.5% in order for the reader to sound natural. When it was running at 1%, which I expect to be a natural pace, it sounded incredibly slow which gave the characters a certain air I couldn't connect with. Once the narration was a bit faster, I found I enjoyed the characters more.

I am docking a star here because, while I did enjoy the book, the audiobook was not stellar.

So, I just wrapped up "Josh and Gemma Make a Baby," but honestly, I couldn't quite get into it. Despite the romcom premise, the plot felt a bit too unbelievable from the start.

Gemma's New Year's resolution to have a baby with her brother's best friend, Josh, seemed like a stretch. The idea of making such a life-changing decision in a strictly businesslike way didn't quite resonate with me. The unemotional agreement to create a baby takes unexpected turns, but the journey felt a bit forced, making it challenging for me to connect with the characters. "Josh and Gemma Make a Baby" just didn't hit the mark for me in terms of believability and engagement.

This title was archived before I had a chance to download it to be read so unfortunately I was not able to read it and give feedback.

This book was a cute, light read. A nice romcom that kept me entertained. I love the story. A sincere thank you to NetGallery for this book.

Gemma's life is just about perfect. She has a great job she loves, she has a supportive, meddling family, and she has just started to date a nice guy. But there is one thing she wants, that she may never be able to have, a baby. For medical reasons, she is unable to conceive and is finally ready to find out if motherhood is a possibility or not. Se doesn't want a random sperm donor, so she decides on her brother's best friend Josh Lewenthal. She doesn't want or need a relationship with him, she just wants his sperm.

Thanks to Swift & Lewis and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen and review this book.

This was a good Rom-Com. I could totally see this as a movie. Taking place in NYC and the suburbs, this book has everything you could want. The overly supportive mother, the long standing crush on the brother's best friend., the "perfect" older sister, friends in the same boat, an asshole boss, and the nosy coworker.

Overall this was a good book. This is the first I've read by this author, but I think I will read another. This one made me laugh and cry a bit as well. If you're a rom-com fan, you will definitely enjoy this book.

"Josh and Gemma Make a Baby" is a heartwarming and humorous novel that explores the complexities of modern relationships and fertility struggles. The author, Sarah Ready, artfully weaves together a story that is both entertaining and thought-provoking. The characters are relatable and endearing, and the plot moves at a satisfying pace. Overall, "Josh and Gemma Make a Baby" is a delightful read that will leave you feeling uplifted and inspired.

I really enjoyed the narration of this book. While the book had its cute moments, and fun friendships, so much of the infertility experience felt like fantasy, which was challenging. This book felt very bittersweet with all of the fertility challenges of the different characters, but for all of them to end up with babies at the end felt unfortunately unrealistic.

This was perfect for a break between thrillers. The audiobook was easy to binge and so well done. This one will warm your heart, make you laugh, and shed some tears. I would go into this knowing that infertility and IVF awareness are involved as that can be triggering for some. I'm looking forward to more audiobooks from this author.

Thank you, NetGalley for this ALC!

I wanted to like this book but I felt it was hard to get through.I was slightly bored and felt myself checking out and forgetting what was happening in the storyline. I wanted to like it, but it was a solid 2 star romance.

This was definitely a read that I enjoyed thoroughly! The characters had such development that really brought you in to see who they really are. With their quirks and mannerisms it was hard not to see them as real people and think you are just seeing everything as their friend from a single point of view.

Sarah Ready is one of my absolute favorite authors and I am so glad I got the opportunity to listen and read to this beauty. This was one of the books that played like a movie in my head as I read it, and listened. This was a tandem read with audio and e-book, and the audio was phenomenal. I really liked the narrator and what she had to author.

I honestly don't think that I could have loved this book more! I am so beyond excited to be able to continue with this story line in the upcoming release!

Note: I received a NETGALLEY ARC AND AUDIO in exchange for an honest review.

Note 1B: I will not be reviewing Josh and Gemma the second time around - because this novel was barely enough to stomach. Same goes for the audio.

Note 2: This is a duet for now. This is the first novel. Josh and Gemma the second time around, releases Jan 26th 2023.

Triggers: ivf failure, miscarriages, bodyshaming, infidelity, pregnancy mishaps, death.

What can I say about this atrocious novel that won't make me wish for it's self combustion even more?

Honestly. I expected a lot more from this novel.

Considering one - it's a sarah ready novel - and I loved her previous novels. Two, it touches on sensitive issues like pregnancies and other crucial situations that happen to women/transwomen,intersex etc. Three - because the title was damn hilarious.

Did I get any of the above remarks right from this novel - Answer no.

This novel was so atrocious and horrible and gosh darn I expected better - that I cannot, cannot put a positive spin on it even if I wanted to.

Gemma for one sucked as a character - she was a doormat to everyone who mistreated her - family, relationships. But was a selfish, judgemental bitch to those who cared - Josh, her IVF group friends. Plus such a hot mess and disorganised and ignorant - like she could've adopted a kid, she could've done it with an anonymous donor, so many other ways to have a kid. Her personal life was such a mess - that it made me have sheer headaches and of oh god when is this going to end? Newsflash it didn't end sooner.

And also she wanted to have a kid with a familiar face - let's just get one thing clear - Josh is not a familiar face - she had a hookup with him one time, and that was it. Otherwise all they did was say hello at family functions. Having a kid with someone familiar means, asking someone from your own family, a close friend - not an almost perfect stranger - like Josh was. So yeah sorry but the first half of the plot was completely absurd. More on how the second half of the plot went to shit later.

Secondly - Josh was pathetic. That was it. He reminded me of Ross from friends - yes I hated friends, sue me- the way he keeps pining over Gemma and never tries to solve the backstabbing that happens to him from someone else, ages ago. It's pathetic. And it made the romance even more unbelievable when she finally acknowledges everything that he does for her. His overly charming behaviour also tended to get on my nerves at times.

Plus he said no to her - when she asks him initially - but then on a sudden 360 twist - he agrees to be her donor friend. Like what the hell? Where is the consistency here? It all seems to have vanished somewhere. And also a vibrating iphone? WTF? God...I needed more bleach for that scene than ever.

The other characters sucked as well - they are all judgemental, superficial, and suck in growth, until towards the end. Like I get this was also a bit of self discovery, but my god were they caught up in their vain problems so much and being pregnant for the stupidest reasons imaginable. I couldn't tolerate it. Plus her family is irredeemable - and she lets them use her for no reason, for no actual caring oh wow, awesome no worries reason. Instead they humiliate her (reference to triggers), and she STILL HELPS THEM!

The romance was unbelievable - no development, no slow burn, no nothing. All she does is date losers, then one day like Isaac Newton gets hit on the head with the knowledge Josh likes her, loves her. That's it. That's the origin of the story. They're both losers, and Gemma deserves Josh, who is also pathetic. I honestly thought they were better off as friends. That is all.

Her pregnancy issues - are never addressed. She never considers adoption, no anonymous donor, no surrogacy, no nothing. Sigh. All she does is whine about asking Josh to be her donor, you'd think a woman who can run a company successfully for her boss could also run her personal life, but cannot, ladies and gents. Her pregnancy issues are not taken seriously, not even by her. So really, this is dangerous for women who read this novel, if they do, and think it's okay to be this thoughtless, uncaring, and robotic in the name of a miscarriage, ivf problem, etc.

Overall, this novel was a complete disaster, even with the half sweet ending.

Nothing sold me on this story, everything was terrible. The character development especially hurt, because wow, I dared expect better from the protagonists themselves. And the romance too. Sigh. Plus touching on the heavy topics. Completely glazed over, no care whatsoever.

Wow, you really disappointed me, Sarah Ready. I hope you know that, with this mess of a novel.

Gosh.

Really enjoyed this audiobook. I expected it to be light and funny and while it was, there was definitely some serious aspects to it too. The narration was excellent and I think definitely added to my enjoyment. There’s some definite trigger warnings around fertility, miscarriage, IVF which it would be best to be aware of going in.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this. I started it several time, but I just couldn't get into it. It was too much at times, and I didn't like most of the characters. I am sure that there are people out there whom will love this book. It just wasn't for me.

This book was so good I ended up reading it in two days, and wanting to read more by this author. Once you start this book, you won’t want to put it down. This book has so many laugh out loud moments. It has all the best tropes in it. It has fake dating, brothers best friend, and it’s a slow burn romance! There’s also an IVF journey in this book. I really loved it, and highly recommend checking it out!

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ended up borrowing this one from the library and figured I'd add my review here as well.

This was such a fun read, I loved the audiobook a lot. Super easy to listen to and follow along.

Will for sure be checking out more from this author :)